Baha'i Views: On Using Mix CDs to Connect Hearts and Minds: Good for learning the Baha'i Writings, too

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

On Using Mix CDs to Connect Hearts and Minds: Good for learning the Baha'i Writings, too

I've been collecting music since the early 1990's. Our public library has always had an extensive CD collection. It has been my primary resource for new discoveries.

My personal collection was kept on cassette tapes in the beginning. During the early years as a DJ -- a "devotional jockey" -- at our monthly "spiritual meeting," as we called our public devotional back then, I would cue up the songs I wanted to play using the cassette player in the Dodge Caravan while driving to and from work. The collection of cassette tapes still exists, sitting in a plastic bin in the garage somewhere.

My collection grew even faster when I switched over to burning mix CDs of my finds when we got a computer in 1999. I have suitcases full of the discs in slim plastic jewel cases. I began buying Baha'i music.

Then came the iPod my kids gave me for my 60th birthday. More opportunities to listen, organize and study the songs of my collection.

I began DJ-ing as part of my job as a mental health consultant to Head Start. I put together special collections around parenting, managing stress and the like. They were great for parent meetings and staff trainings.

I started to DJ for the company picnic and for the annual Brighton Creek Arts Festival weekend. Now I DJ for our companies quarterly all-staff. Great fun to chose just the right playlist to connect hearts and minds into a common purpose.

Currently I'm using mix CDs as a way to help Matt and his family to connect to the Baha'i Writings. I give them a new CD every week. With a song here and a song there, I'm introducing them to the broad diversity of artists performing Baha'i-inspired music today. The family loves music -- not unusual for Samoan-Americans, as I've come to learn. -gw